Don't tell the boys: The viral Facebook campaign has raised eyebrows across the globe

BREAST CANCER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Nearly 46,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in the UK – equivalent to one person every 11 minutes.

It is the second biggest cause of death from cancer for women after lung cancer.

The disease is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women under the age of 35, with over 12,000 people losing their lives to it every year.

Of course the mystery lies in what ‘it’ could possibly be.

Fortunately, it’s nothing smutty at all – rather it refers to where women like to leave their handbags – and the game seems to be an attempt to unite women for a cause while keeping men guessing.

The campaign is being spread via private message on Facebook urging the status updates, although several fan pages of support have also been set up.

The ruse follows a similar Facebook campaign last year which saw female users update their pages by describing their favourite colours.

The flood of ‘I like red/ I like blue/ I like white’ updates left many men scratching their heads in confusion – until it was revealed to reflect the user’s bra colour – a perhaps tenuous way of promoting Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

However, the ‘don’t tell the boys’ element of the game has been a roaring success, with ‘I like it on the floor’ becoming one of the top searched internet phrases of the moment.

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But while the phrase has gone viral, it’s unclear as to whether it is actually reaching its objective of raising awareness of what can be a fatal disease.

A spokesman for Breast Cancer Care, which is not affiliated with the campaign, said: 'While viral campaigns have great potential for increasing consciousness around many issues, we’d like to see this go further.

Big supporters: Pregnant Penny Lancaster and sister-in-law Louise Crocker at a more traditional breast cancer campaign, a fashion show, at the Dorchester today

'We’d encourage people to direct their Facebook friends towards helpful support and information to create better breast awareness, for example linking to our website (www.breastcancercare.org.uk) or reminding their friends to check their breasts regularly when they explain what the campaign is about.'

A Breakthrough Breast Cancer spokesman said: 'This US initiative is a clear example of how social media can capture the public's imagination, although not everyone will know that it is to raise awareness of breast cancer.

'We hope this enthusiasm will continue and that more women will be get into the habit of checking their breasts regularly.

'Breakthrough has launched iBreastCheck, a new free app to give women all the information they need to be breast aware: www.ibreastcheck.com.'